


1996

by showyourbones



Series: golden [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 09:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6513229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showyourbones/pseuds/showyourbones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>by the summer of '96, body cracked like porcelain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1996

**Author's Note:**

> not betaed. enjoy. more notes @ end of WERQ
> 
> summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhwJpB8EInk

Bokuto exits the locker room, shaking out the pins and needles in his legs. He’s dying to take off the compression shorts that stop just above his ankles but he doesn’t want anyone to see the new tattoo on the back of his thigh and ask him about what he’s been up to in his absence. He’s gotten used to hiding himself.

 

Coming back to the team had been a big decision; he’d been thinking about it for  _ weeks  _ before going back to practice again. He missed the ache in his legs, the slap of the court against his thighs, fucking  _ everything  _ and through everything he had still been practicing. He was good enough-- _ more  _ than good enough--that a break wouldn’t set him back. Everyone had reassured him; specifically the people who mattered most when making the decisions but he still felt worried and behind. 

 

Bokuto spots him immediately, leaning against the wall of the gym. He’s taking out a cigarette from a carton--the harsh kind that always remind Bokuto to quit smoking  _ while _ he smokes them (they’re always his because he never buys his own.) “Long time, no see,” Kuroo says. It comes out a little jumbled because of the stick. Of course Bokuto thinks it’s sexy.

 

Bokuto’s standing a little closer than most people passing would deem necessary probably. “You gonna give me one?” He asks pulling slightly on Kuroo’s bomber jacket to bring him even closer. Kuroo smirks and it takes everything in Bokuto not to roll his eyes.  _ He knows what he’s doing to you, _ he thinks. Drives him nuts.

 

“Now why would I do that, superstar?” Kuroo replies and Bokuto actually snorts. 

 

“Now I’m a superstar?” Bokuto smiles and bites his lip unconsciously--a habit he picked up when he got uncomfortable from latent praise. He doesn’t miss the way that Kuroo’s eyes trace over his face and linger on his lips at the movement. “Hey, my eyes are up here.” 

 

“As much as I’d love to see your lips wrapped around something really fucking badly,” Kuroo closes his eyes and inhales. “It’s bad for you and you’re doing something really important that requires  _ your lungs to work.” _

 

“Last time I checked you sung in a band…” Bokuto frowns. They’ve been down  _ this  _ road before too. Bokuto only smokes when he drinks, really or when he’s really stressed and he lives off of coffee and cigarettes and all that cliched tortured artist shit. “That must be the other guy I’m dating. He’s really nerdy too.”

  
“I’m gonna ignore that because I missed seeing you in those shorts and the compression pants,” Kuroo sighs. 

 

“Is that why you’re here?” Bokuto laughs, bumping his shoulder with Kuroo to get a little contact with him. Daylight’s too much to get too physical with him but he  _ wants _ to so badly. “To live out your kink? Didn’t you have some important meeting with the guys?”

 

Kuroo looks at him funny, like he doesn’t understand half of what’s coming out of Bokuto’s mouth and  _ why _ . “Kou, I wanted to show up because it was your first day back. I practically wanted to sit in on your practice but I’m not your  _ mom  _ so. I just wanted to be there for you, man.”

 

Bokuto scratches his head and nods because yea--that’s. Sometimes he and Kuroo don’t really work out their boundaries between best friends and boyfriends because they _don’t know how._ When they were with other people the issue was that they were actually somehow _together_ and crossing boundaries in that strange sense of a word. So, when they sorta put a label on it by officially kissing and fucking (a crude word, in Kuroo’s humble opinion or so he told Bokuto, for what they did) they figured it would kind of work itself out. But they’re still learning. 

 

“Right,” he scrunches his nose up. “Sorry, boo.” Bokuto gathers his thoughts for a bit, letting some of the warmth over take him instead of all of the overwhelming bits. It’s easy to get lost in everything, especially being worried about being left behind. “It...was good? I need a lot of fucking practice way more than everyone says I  _ don’t  _ need. Like, why did I spend all that time drinking with you and fucking?” He laughs. “I had a lot of fun though.”

 

“Kou, you had a  _ great  _ break. You worked on a ton of shit you needed to work on and you were still practicing,” Kuroo blows out the last of his cigarette and stamps it out. “Also, that is the best thing to tell the team. What were you doing on your time off? I was getting fucked in every sense of the word. And you’re still an amazing player? They’ll be all ‘he’s one cool son of a gun’…”

 

“Oh my god,” Bokuto cringes. “You’re such a fucking nerd!” Kuroo’s laughing real wide at his own joke and Bokuto can’t help it before he lunges himself at him and gathers him into a big kiss. It’s daylight, there are people milling around, it’s the worst time for him to do this. He never  _ hated  _ PDA but he did when things got really bad for him. It’s just--he can’t resist Kuroo when he makes things at ease for him, when his laughter is so fucking bright and he’s so good for him. Kuroo kisses him back immediately and easily, with tongue slipped in and just this side of mean to ground him in front of one of the most important places in his life, at least for now.

 

-

 

_ “Bo,” Kuroo says when he enters the bathroom. Bokuto’s just finished brushing his teeth. “Our parents are going to fucking kill us.” _

 

_ “Yea, well,” Bo laughs. “You wanted them man.” _

 

_ “I thought it would make me feel better,” Kuroo pouts. Bokuto hops up on the counter of his tiny bathroom. They just got back from some party. One of Akaashi’s cousin’s friends. They were older and it was a stupid idea. They both came back with stick-and-pokes done by some Karasuno kid, Nishinoya Yuu. He was tiny and loud. They liked that. Even stupider. _

 

_ “What’s wrong with you?” Bokuto asks, frowning. He’s noticed that Kuroo has been a little subdued lately but he’s also too complex for a best friend. Bokuto guesses that he feels different about Kuroo than he does about Akaashi or the rest of his close friends, though. _

 

_ “Dunno,” Kuroo shrugs. “I’m sad they said. I thought I told you this but my parents put me in therapy.” _

 

_ “Oh…” Bokuto says. He’s at a loss for words because he’s never been in this situation before. They’re teenagers, it feels like a lot for teenagers to handle. Besides, like, he never really thinks of Kuroo as too weak to handle anything. Not like himself. So now he has to rework his definitions of weak... _

 

_ “You’re the first and only person I’ve told actually,” Kuroo looks to the side. Bokuto pulls at  the hem of his night t-shirt. He opens his legs so Kuroo can slip in between them and he hugs him. Kuroo slips his hand up his shirt and holds on to his waist. _

 

_ “Don’t know what to say except that I’m always here for you, boo,” Bokuto murmurs into Kuroo’s temple. He presses a few open-mouthed kisses by his face and rests his head in his neck. “How do we take care of this shit you got us into?” _

 

_ “I’m thinking I’m just gonna let yours get infected.” Bokuto can feel Kuroo’s smirk and he pushes him away. _

 

_ “Let’s go to sleep?” Bokuto offers. They’re sleep-heavy, a little tipsy still probably. He pushes off the counter and takes Kuroo’s hand to lead him to his bed.  _

 

\--

 

“How’s your tattoo?” Oikawa asks Bokuto when he lets himself into Kuroo’s apartment. He has the keys from when they were not-not boyfriends and pseudo-best friends. Kuroo hasn’t given him the keys as actual boyfriends. It’s a not-thing  _ and  _ a thing and it’s one of those boundaries that they don’t have to cross but probably have to at some point. It’s fine. Definitely not causing Bokuto any sort of turmoil whatsoever. No anxiety here.

 

“I’m great Oi-chan, sup with you?” Bokuto laughs and sits down on the couch. 

 

“Hey,” Kuroo says as comes into the living room looking a little harried and a lot shirtless. “Sorry we have a thing in, like, soon. Which you know because...you are giving me a look because...you’re coming. Right.” Bokuto raises his eyebrows. “Hi.” Kuroo stops for a second and leans over the couch to give Bokuto a lingering kiss. “Sorry.” He gives him a chaste peck before going back into his room.

 

“I’ll go in there soon,” Bokuto informs OIkawa before he can tell him to calm him down. 

 

Just like they can bounce their excitable energy off of each other, they can also calm each other down. Bokuto needs the right time to just get in there with Kuroo unless Kuroo gets irritated and Bokuto gets upset at the irritation. They  _ don’t  _ really fight or like to fight but now there’s the added pressure of the relationship and that’s a whole thing. Bokuto’s impulsive, but his fight or flight side he didn’t know he had decided to rear its ugly head in the recent years. Words will be had if one is not an adult about it. Which is apparently what you have to be in a relationship, says the rational mind. “My tattoo’s fine, tell Iwaizumi his pupil has moved on greatly from stick-and-pokes. Seriously, Nishinoya should be full-time.”

 

“Give him time,” Oikawa shrugs, suddenly with milk bread in his hands. Milk bread that Bokuto bought for himself and Hinata. “Have you shown…” he makes a motion with his head in the direction of Kuroo’s room.

 

“Nah, I will,” Bokuto says. 

 

“You’re waiting for it to heal so he can do some weird sex thing with it aren’t you,” Oikawa deadpans, squinting at Bokuto.

 

“Okay, not everything is about sex with  _ us  _ but why is that everything is about sex with  _ you _ and yet…?” Bokuto snorts. “But maybe on the tattoo thing. Probably. Our love manifests itself in lots and lots of fucking Oikawa.”

 

“You’re really gay Bokuto,” Oikawa says and chews more of the bread.

 

“You too buddy.” They both laugh before they hear a thud from Kuroo’s bedroom. “I better help.” Oikawa nods as Bokuto scurries to Kuroo’s bedroom. 

 

He steps over a huge mound of clothes in the doorway and rolls his eyes. “What the fuck are you doing?” 

 

“Nothing looks right,” Kuroo sighs. “Like, fuck.” Bokuto can sense a Kuroo level 8 meltdown over a simple meeting with some young indie exec that his ( _ boy)friend  _ is allowed to sit in on. It’s obviously going to be pretty laid back; it’s not a big company and plenty of people are eyeing them for good reason. Bokuto gets it, the anxiety, the paranoia and the stress being channeled all into clothing choices and he wishes he could fix it all in one fell swoop.

 

“You look good right now,” Bokuto tells him simply. He does look good, but he usually does. The bedhead hasn’t changed much over the years and it’s still perfect.

 

Kuroo glares at him then shakes his head. “Sorry. It’s just. I don’t.  _ You  _ look good. Can you come here?” Bokuto makes his way over to the bed immediately and plants one of his knees into the open space between Kuroo’s legs. It’s one of his favorite things to be looking down at Kuroo. Kuroo puts his face on his stomach and breathes. “This is really fucking important. The way I look barely fucking matters, right? What if it were you that went instead and you took our music.”

 

“I’m way more neurotic, Tetsu,” Bokuto jokes. 

 

“Nah just like,” Kuroo mumbles. “I dunno.”

 

“It’s all about you and Oikawa today and it’s gonna be great. You and your gorgeous face and personality. And that freak too,” Bokuto rubs his back. Kuroo rubs his face back and forth in the fabric of Bokuto’s shirt. He bunches it up so a bit of his stomach shows, and Kuroo starts kissing the part that shows. Kuroo keeps one hand on the bits that are showing, he loves the bit of contrast between their skin. He licks and bites Bokuto, hoping for a bruise to bloom that will be a reminder during the lunch they’ll be in. “Hey…” Bokuto says and Kuroo stops and looks up at him. Bokuto takes the hand on his hip and kisses his wrist. “Wear my jacket.” 

\--

 

There’s a tattoo of a 4 and a 1 with a circle between the numbers on the inside of Bokuto’s upper arm. Kuroo has the same crude tattoo, same placement, different arm. It’s warm enough that Bokuto can forego the jacket when meeting the young exec of the small indie record label but Kuroo’s got on Bokuto’s leather jacket (it’s a bit oversized and it goes with his outfit that he picked out perfectly.) He doesn’t know about Kuroo’s matching tattoo, but he sees a glimpse of Bokuto’s and doesn’t really question it. He thinks it’s interesting and moves on.

**Author's Note:**

> will i ever write them fucking (yes...maybe...give me time)
> 
> i am on spring break.....i have time on my hands now...will i ever write my other otp (yes...maybe...give me time)
> 
> i know exactly how all my characters dress. 1. bc i love clothes 2. bc 1 3. i am so picky abt clothing and men in them
> 
> i went in between themes and this is the lightest of all but there's like remnants of old things here and there. i feel like this is the most cohesive i've written but also i feel like idk what i'm talking about rn? tbh
> 
> it's 5 am. i am sorry i havent answered comments from my last fic i was swamped and now that i am unswamped i can answer but now i feel so fucking bad that the anxiety is creepy crawling me to my grave. thank you so much i do this bc i love these characters tbh and also i love what other ppl do w them and i figure why not.
> 
> his tattoo will b revealed...b4 i go back 2 school i will probs write sth else. even if no1 ever reads this ever again bc this may or may not be trash. it will be revealed 2 one looking eye emoji.
> 
> oh btw do u get it their 1st matching tattoos r their jersey numbers. 4 and 1. get it. GET IT.


End file.
